Russia releases US Marine vet in surprise prisoner exchange in Turkey

Russia and the United States have carried out an unexpected prisoner exchange in Turkey in a time of high tensions, trading on April 27 a Marine veteran jailed by Moscow for a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a long prison sentence in America. 

The deal involving Trevor Reed, an American imprisoned for nearly three years, would have been a notable diplomatic maneuver even in times of peace but it was all the more surprising because it was done as Russia's war with Ukraine has driven relations with the U.S. to their lowest point in decades.

On the other end of the swap was Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who'd been serving a 20-year federal sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.

Even as the Biden administration trumpeted the swap, it made clear the resolution did not herald a broader breakthrough between the countries. Russian forces remain determined in their assault on Ukraine, the U.S. and Western allies continue to impose punishing sanctions and other Americans, including WNBA star Brittney Griner and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, still remain jailed in Russia.

The swap, the culmination of longstanding requests by both countries as well as private diplomatic wrangling, took place in Turkey when "the two planes pulled up side by side, essentially, and then they got out," said Reed's father, Joey.

"I think it's going to really hit home for him and for us when we finally get to see him and touch him," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Reed, a 30-year-old former Marine from Texas, was arrested in the summer of 2019 after Russian authorities said he assaulted an officer while being driven by police to a police station following a night of heavy drinking....